Child Psychiatrist to Curtail Industry-Financed Activities

Child Psychiatrist to Curtail Industry-Financed Activities

By PAM BELLUCK
December 31, 2008

A prominent Harvard child psychiatrist will curtail activities financed by the drug industry while Massachusetts General Hospital investigates his failure for years to disclose the consulting fees he received from drug makers.

The psychiatrist, Dr. Joseph Biederman, a world-renowned and controversial researcher on childhood mental illness, has agreed to stop participating in speaking engagements and other activities paid for by pharmaceutical companies, and also to stop his work on industry-financed activities within the hospital. That includes clinical trials that are under way at the hospital, said Peggy Slasman, a spokeswoman for Massachusetts General.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/health/policy/31psych.html?_r=1&ref=us


She said that the trials would continue but that Dr. Biederman would not be involved.

“He’s just not going to be doing any of that as long as these review processes go on, until they wrap up and some decisions are made,” Ms. Slasman said.

The hospital said in a statement that it was evaluating whether Dr. Biederman violated rules “related to potential conflicts of interest, disclosure and industry-institutional relationships.”

Ms. Slasman said that Dr. Biederman would be allowed to continue working on federally financed research during the review.

A lawyer for Dr. Biederman, Peter Spivack, said, “The agreement is one that was mutual.”

Mr. Spivack said, “Dr. Biederman has done his best to comply with the disclosure policies of his employers, and he’s committed to future compliance with those policies.”

This year, a Congressional investigation found that Dr. Biederman had been paid at least $1.6 million in consulting fees by drug makers from 2000 to 2007, but had failed to report much of this income to Harvard officials for several years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/health/policy/31psych.html?_r=1&ref=us